L1 Lang: Agreement and Disagreement for Mar. 26

This week in class we will be practicing with phrases that we use in English to agree and disagree with other people. To prepare for this class, please read the following editorial from The New York Times and write four or five sentences about the way the author presents his opinions.

Stanley Greenberg on U.S. Health Care

Please also read over the following list of common expressions for expressing agreement and diagreement.

EXPRESSIONS FOR CONVERSATION AND PERSONAL COMMENT

(1) When you start saying something
contributing to a conversation
making a contribution
First of all, I would like to say/state that.............
To begin with, I...................
In the first line, I.............

(2) What can you say instead of "I think" (don't sink, please)
I would say/think
In my opinion
To my mind
I am of the opinion that
I hold the opinion that

(3) When you want to stress your "personal opinion":
Personally I think
As far as I am concerned
As for me
As I take it
As far as I can see

(4) When you "agree" or when you "don't agree":
I entirely/quite agree with you.
I agree to (with) her plan.
I am of the same opinion.
I differ from/with you entirely.
I disagree with you: I am sure you're mistaken.
I stick to my opinion.
Let's agree to differ!

(5) When you want to say the "opposite" of what someone else
said:
on the contrary! quite the contrary! just the opposite!
That is the very opposite of what I said.
That is quite the contrary to what I said.
I maintain the contrary.
In contrast to what you said, I maintain that...........

(6) When you are "quite sure" of something:
of course!
That goes without saying (It goes without saying
that......)
I contend/maintain that................
It's my conviction that..................

(7) When you want to "ask a question":
May I interrupt you?
There arises the question/point whether/if......
This question raises the whole issue

(8) When you "haven't understood":
I beg your pardon. / Pardon?
Could you repeat what you've just said? But slower, please./
Could you slow down a bit?

(9) If you should want to "correct a mistake":
Excuse me (for interrupting) you should have said:"....."

(10)When you want to "distinguish" (make a distinction between)
two aspects of a question, when you want to distinguish one
aspect from the other:
on the one hand on the other hand
in general in particular
generally speaking
on the whole
taken as a whole
at first sight on second thoughts

(11)When you want to "add" something(these are not usually used in conversation)
In addition,.........................
Moreover,....................
Furthermore,........................
Finally,...........................

(12)When you want to "emphasize" something:
I would like to lay (put) emphasis (stress) on the fact
that..
I just want to point out that................

(13)When you want to "say the truth":
To be frank (with you),...................
Frankly (speaking),.........................
To say the truth,........................

(14)And if you are "not sure":
I don't know exactly.
I don't know for certain.

(A) General phrases:
in other words in this respect
to a certain degree/extent It depends on your point
of
in brief/short.......... view
To be brief,..................
To cut a long story short,...... Let me put it this
way:....
I don't know. - I don't know either. Nor/Neither do I.